Peta J Hopkins

An Instagram is worth a thousand words: An industry panel and audience Q&A

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the industry panel session hosted by Bond University Library at the Australian Library and Information Associations Information Online 2013 Conference. The panel was held to discuss the use and implications of professional Instagram profiles. The panel included a professional photographer, an internet marketing expert, a social media expert, a librarian and a social media‐savvy student. The inclusion of a range of perspectives from outside the library aimed to provide a holistic approach to the institutional use of Instagram and to provide inspiration. The panel took place on Wednesday 13 February 2013 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.Design/methodology/approach – The panel discussion covered three broad topic areas: the popularity of Instagram and listening to your audience. The risks, limitations and disadvantages of using Instagram. Engagement with followers and measuring the value of Instagram. Throughout the panel session live mobile polling was u...

Geo, audio, video, photo: How digital convergence in mobile devices facilitates participatory culture in libraries

Libraries are often hailed as the cultural and learning hub of their communities. To deepen community engagement and social inclusion, libraries are adopting new technologies to facilitate a participatory and learning culture. With market saturation of smartphones and tablets and their associated apps, new affordances for content creation, curation and sharing show great potential to enhance participatory culture. The typical smartphone or tablet now incorporates digital technologies such as geo-location, audio, video, photo and web technologies. Bringing these technologies into a single device has enabled the development of apps such as Instagram, HistoryPin and SoundCloud. It has also changed the way users engage with established social networks and photo-sharing sites. Users can now create and share content on an unprecedented scale from any accessible Wi-fi or mobile phone network. Libraries are embracing these technology-rich apps to interact with their customers in many different ways. Examples in this article examine how libraries are taking up opportunities enabled by the convergence of technologies into mobile devices in the participatory culture context – tapping into new communities, engaging with their stakeholders in meaningful ways, enhancing their social impact and transforming their essential roles in todays knowledge society.